My Girl

When Kazuha was mad about something, people tended to know. She wasn't one to mask her feelings; she told you exactly what she thought.

What people didn't know, however, was that Kazuha wasn't as open as she seemed at first. Yes, she'd yell about the little things: when Heiji forgot a promise, didn't walk her home, or tried to lose her before a case. When it came to bigger things, though, she kept it inside.

Now was one of those times.

It was partially her fault, she knew. If she hadn't have brought the girl that had been flirting with Heiji all week up, he wouldn't have told her how hot he thought the girl was. He wouldn't have rubbed it in and bragged about how all the girls were after him. He didn't have to say it; she already knew.

She knew all about the fan clubs, the girls far prettier than she that thought they were in love with him. And she knew that, one day, he'd pick one of them and then where would she be? She couldn't imagine not being the girl in his life and she didn't want to.

And as she sat in the classroom that afternoon, it seemed to be all she could think of. Heiji and some beautiful girl. She hadn't told anyone; how could she? It wasn't like she liked him or anything. Really. It wasn't.

She had classroom duty that day and had told Heiji to go on to kendo; she'd catch up with him later. He hadn't noticed she wasn't feeling all that well. No one had. They were all so used to her obvious emotions that they were blind to her subtle ones. Not that she hadn't expected it. She was both thankful and regretful of the time alone to think.

The setting sun fell on her shoulders as she sighed, picking up a dust cloth and wiping down the desks. If only once Heiji would –

She heard a thump as the door was shoved open. A little scared at the sudden noise, she jumped up and looked to the entrance. Heiji stood there, breathing heavily, still in kendo garb. She cocked her head, confused.

"Heiji?" She questioned softly. It looked like he had run up all three flights of stairs that separated her homeroom and his practice. He didn't say anything, simply walking towards her with a soft smile on his face. She hadn't seen him like that in a long time. She was used to him yelling, used to him scolding her for doing something he didn't like. She didn't know how to deal with this new, softer Heiji.

"Come on," he started when he got closer to her. "We're going home."

"Home?" She asked, confused. "Heiji, I haven't finished. I need to—"

"You need to come home," he said matter of factly, taking her wrist to emphasize his point. "Something's wrong and you're going to tell me all about it as we walk home. Then, we're going to eat some cookies that my mom made the other day and you're going to feel better and be back to normal tomorrow. Got it?"

"Heiji, you can't just tell me what to do," she started, pulling her wrist out of his grasp, albeit reluctantly. As she put up a front of being offended, though, she was actually quite touched. He'd noticed and confronted her in the only way he knew how. It was pretty cute, she had to admit. Not that she thought he was cute or anything. No. Of course not. Still, maybe she'd go a bit easier on him than normal.

"By the way," she asked as they made their way out of the classroom, "how did you know something was wrong?" She could almost detect a faint blush on his cheeks before he blustered through his answer.

"You were being such a wimp about it, of course."

--

"Oi, Heiji," a teammate called out to him. Heiji spun around, his men in his hand as he walked towards the exit of the room. "Where do you think you're going?" Heiji smiled back.

"Oh, I just need to take Kazuha home. Something's bothering her."

His teammates blinked.

"How can you even tell? She looked fine to me."

"Yeah, Heiji. I think you're just imagining things."

Heiji simply shook his head at the other boys in the room.

"What can I say?" he asked with a shrug. "I know my girl."

Author's Note: Another plunnie that came from Mass. I swear, I get the weirdest ideas there. And always Heiji and Kazuha. Weird.

Oh, and men is the name of the helmet in kendo, just so you don't think there are a bunch of little people Heiji keeps in his pocket or something. XD